EPMD, ‘We Mean Business’ (Ep Records)

EPMD are back together again, more than a decadeafter the Long Island duo’sinitial 1997 reunion. Despite some truly awful lyrics — “Don’t make me get mad and Barack O-bomb-ya” is particularly wince-worthy — both Erick Sermon and Parrish Smith sound reenergized, boosted by spirited cameos from Redman, Method Man, and Keith Murray. But this nostalgia trip has its slip-ups: “Backstabber” is a retread of the 1990 track “Gold Digger,” and the latest entry in their femme-fatale “Jane” series flogs aconcept, not to mention a lumbering beat, that was tired long ago.

Around The Web \

Alessandro Cortini tends to surround himself with darkness. The Italian producer is most infamous as a torturer of modular synths and other bleak electronics for Los Angeles’ most famous industrial-goths, Nine Inch Nails. His previous solo LP, Sonno, slinked out on Prurient’s Hospital Productions — a bastion of the crepuscular, if there ever was one. And… More »